#MentalHealthAwarenessWeek

May 15th, 2018

This week is #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek, and this year’s focus is on stress. At The Well Centre, our youth health centre in south London, young people can see a youth worker, counsellor and doctor under one roof. Our team meet young people suffering from stress and other mental health problems and give them the time to talk in a safe and confidential space.

Jade’s* story

Jade dropped in to The Well Centre one lunch time because she was feeling low. She met a youth worker and told them she had been self-harming, had been suffering from anxiety and experiencing panic attacks.

Jade felt she had pressures at home, at school and was struggling to stay on top of school work and hobbies. She felt her teachers didn’t understand her concerns and that talking to them wasn’t making a difference to how she felt. Jade had contacted her GP for counselling support but that meant informing her parents that she was self-harming and she didn’t want to tell them.

The Redthread youth worker listened to Jade and talked to her about identifying a teacher that she felt able to talk to. That week, Jade approached a teacher and spoke to them about how she had been feeling. Afterwards, the youth worker got in touch with the teacher to discuss how to move forward. Both the teacher and youth worker helped Jade write a letter to her parents informing them of how she’d been feeling and together organised a session with Jade and her parents to discuss how best to support Jade going forward.

Since meeting the Redthread youth worker and writing down how she felt, Jade has started to feel less anxious and more positive about her home life. She has now been able to access the CAMHS counsellor in her school and continues to come to The Well Centre. She acknowledges that there are still things to work through but is focusing on the progress that she has made and is able recognise and celebrate the good things in her life.

“You can believe me now when I say THANK YOU for that phone call. I think you may have made the situation just that little bit better!”